From the turbulent Civil Rights and Black Power charged era of
the ’60s to the somewhat milder climate of today, Nommo,
UCLA’s African American magazine, continues to evolve with
the times.
“Nommo offered African American students the opportunity
to have … the ability to formulate a unique message that prior to
that time was being either homogenized or entirely suppressed on
campus,” said Lance Williams, UCLA alumnus and one of the
founding members of Nommo.
It was Williams who suggested the name Nommo, Swahili for the
“magic power of words,” for the magazine.
“Nommo was the title of a chapter detailing the richness
of African culture in Janheinz Jahn’s book
“˜Muntu,'” Williams said.
Founded in December 1968, Nommo continues to serve as a
socio-political forum for black students while preparing aspiring
leaders and scholars.
Genevieve Richards, current Nommo editor, is proud of the role
the magazine plays.
“This is history; this is a groundbreaking paper. “¦
It’s incredible that the students have continued it to
today,” Richards said.
Years have passed, but the issues have changed little. The black
community continues to deal with problems of police violence and
economic inequality.
“For the great majority of our people, there remains a
seething anger in the black community over continuing injustice on
so many levels, from police brutality to poor schools. “¦ The
underlying, unaddressed problems that led to the uprisings in 1965,
1968 and 1992 remain,” said Yemi Toure, formerly Ron Finney,
of the 1970-1971 Nommo staff.
On assignment for Nommo, Toure once traveled to Gary, Indiana to
write an article on the March 1972 founding convention of the
National Black Political Convention.
Presently, issues covered in Nommo concentrate mostly on the
education concerns of retention and outreach while still covering
socio-political issues in the United States and Africa.
At the time of Nommo’s inception, the dominant media
wasn’t covering in-depth accounts of happenings pertinent to
the black community, and black students were looking for a medium
that catered to their interests, Richards said.
Initial reactions to Nommo from the non-black community were
disapproving.
“When we founded Nommo, there was a great hue and cry
about our developing a “˜separatist’ newspaper,”
Williams said.
Nommo gave sympathetic press to Angela Davis’ struggle to
teach on campus, the Third World Liberation Front and expressed a
solidarity with revolutionary struggles of oppressed peoples
worldwide.
Nommo’s content was “a lightening rod to many of
those who composed the general campus editorial oversight
board,” Williams added.
Since its inception, Nommo has opened the door for other ethnic
and socially-conscious student communities on campus, spawning
newsmagazines including Al-Talib, Ha’am, La Gente de Azatlan,
Fem, Pacific Ties and TenPercent.
From a circulation high of 50,000 down to the quarterly 3,000
now, student interest seems to be declining.
Students were once pursuing the red-hot issues of the day, but
they have become more comfortable today, Richards said.
However, the decline in circulation could also be attributed to
the evolving mediums of communication.
Students can now access information from a variety of sources
““ information that would not have been available before.
“I think students are aware and motivated. “¦ I think
communication has changed,” said Arvli Ward, former editor of
Nommo and current Student Media Advisor. “The amount of time
a student has to engage in topics has changed.”
To reach a wider audience, Richards is trying to make the
magazine more well-rounded by not just focusing on political
issues.
Part of her efforts include adding lighter topics to attract
readers in the hopes that they will get students interested in the
heavier topics.
“I’m trying to encourage a dialogue to encourage
students,” Roberts said. “You’re not going to
make any headway about what’s really making a difference in
the community without some common ground.”